Canine Cake & Sunday Brunch

The first recipe I made from My Sweet Vegan was the Canine Cake, of course. After Luckie's health challenges in this, his 14th year, I figured he deserved a cake. He hasn't touched commercial pet food in well over 10 years and he has certainly had his fair share of baked goods passed his way from the table to floor but he's never had an entire cake made for him.

The cake is simple and wholesome--nothing but flour, baking soda, shredded carrots, peanut butter, canola oil and applesauce. It's a cinch to make--just briefly mix all the ingredients together until you have a consistency more akin to cookie dough than cake batter, place into two small ramekins (or a small baking dish), and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.



Although it's not very sweet, the end result is incredibly moist and like a mildly nutty carrot cake. Add some sugar or even just serve with some jam and I'm sure even the human dessert craving will be sated. In fact, Brian stole a generous chunk from Luckie this morning. But Brian said that is only fair since Luckie has helped himself to our meals more than once.

Oh, the dog seemed to like it too.

On a recent epidsode of Animal Voices, Isa Chandra Moskowitz said that Portlanders really love their brunch, particularly biscuits and gravy. Brian and I found this to be true when we were in Portland a few weeks ago. We had tofu scramble, smoky kale, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and a berry crumble at Sweet Pea Baking Company's weekly Sunday brunch. Sweet Pea does not need to do brunch because their marionberry muffin was the best muffin I've ever had in my entire life and the Elvis cake (bananas and peanut butter and chocolate oh my) completely silenced Brian and I as we sat in the rental car in an Oregon state park eating it instead of hiking. That's more than enough. But they do brunch too because they care and because they are vegan angels.

Inspired by their brunch, Brian and I cooked up the tofu scramble from The New Becoming Vegetarian, which features nutritional yeast. I must be earning more and more vegan stripes every day because now I like the stuff and can't wait to use it again. Instead of potatoes, I sliced up a green plantain and fried it in a small amount of canola oil before blotting and lightly salting them. Add some Amy's meatless grain and vegetable-based sausages and you are good to go.

Canine Cake photos by Brian & Joselle; Brunch photo by Brian